Nasi Kandar
A mixed rice dish created in early-1900s George Town, Penang, by Tamil Muslim 'mamak' vendors who sold curry-and-rice meals to dockworkers at Weld Quay. Its name genuinely comes from 'kandar,' a pole vendors balanced on their shoulder to carry two baskets of rice and curries through the docks — documented etymology, not folklore. Originally an early-morning meal for laborers rather than the dinner dish it's often marketed as today, its defining technique is the 'banjir' (flooding) style of service: several curry gravies ladled generously over and around the rice so they mix together, rather than a single curry kept separate.
Meat-optional
Ingredients
- 4 cups steamed rice
- 600g chicken, cut into pieces
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 400ml coconut milk
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 cup lentils, for dhal
- 1 eggplant, chopped
- Fried chicken pieces, to serve
- Sambal, to serve
Steps
- Make a curry gravy base with onion, garlic, ginger, and curry powder, thinned with coconut milk.
- Simmer the chicken in the curry gravy until tender.
- Separately simmer the lentils into a simple dhal, and cook the eggplant into a vegetable curry.
- Fry additional chicken pieces separately until crisp.
- Serve the rice with the fried chicken on top, ladling both curries generously around and over it, with a spoon of sambal.